Haiti Election: Time to Throw a Giant Net Over Haiti

Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights

If Haiti were a human being, this would be the time to throw a giant net over the patient. It is time to put a straight jacket on and take him in a padded truck and drive to the nearest asylum for some mental help.

Blame the decades of wrenching poverty, coupled with depleted natural resources and the near total absence of qualified political leadership for setting the stage.

Now it seems the January earthquake, which killed a quarter of a million people, and a series of crises have pushed Haiti over the mental edge, and here is the proof: Haitians are setting fires and barricading streets, because carnival singer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly hasn't been named president.

"We want Martelly. The whole world wants Martelly," protester James Becimus told the Associated Press. "Today we set fires; tomorrow we bring weapons."

Other in Haiti told reporters that they would fight nonviolently for their candidate, but the fact remains the same: Haiti is so desperate for a savior, it is looking to a singer linked to corrupt President Rene Preval and ex Port-au-Prince Police Chief Michel Francois, who was convicted of drug charges in the United States.

Martelly, 49, is wildly popular among the masses but lacks the political experience needed to pull Haiti from the depths -- plain and simple. It's not a bad idea for Martelly to serve as a government adviser or undersecretary, so he can use his fame to rally the people toward policies that will help.

Occupying the presidential palace, though, is something completely different.

In addition, the fact that young Haitians have taken to the streets to fight UN peacekeeping troops, forcing the closure of the international airport, is inexcusable.

Martelly lost his spot in a runoff election to another political unknown, Jude Celestin, leading many to believe the election was stolen. Reports of ballot stuffing, voter intimidation and other election misdeeds marked the primary election.

It's impossible to see how the mess that is Haiti will play out. It seems that every day there is a new calamity to deal with and another crisis to heap additional misery on the poor people of Haiti.

But Haitians see a knight in shining armor that will rescue them -- and he is a carnival singer.

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